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Preview | Yeovil Town (h)

Corporate Match Sponsor:

Barnet FC would like to thank Stuart Morris our Corporate Sponsor, for his loyal and continued support over the many years.

Stuart has been an avid supporter for some 60 years having taken a shine to the club from a tender age of 8 years old.  His support and enthusiasm for the club has clearly rubbed off onto his son, James who has been supporting the club for 20 years and hope to have the next generation in the family with Livia continuing the tradition supporting Barnet FC.

 

Team News: 

John Akinde (hamstring), Curtis Weston (knee) and Jamie Stephens (knee) are all making progress with their knocks, but it’s too early for any of them to feature tomorrow.

Richard Brindley (foot), Elliott Johnson (knee) and Dave Tarpey (knee) are showing good signs with their long-term injuries.

Last Time We Met:

Liam Shephard scored a last-minute equaliser as Yeovil snatched a late 2-2 draw in March 2017 at The Hive London.

Ben Whitfield put the Glovers ahead before Michael Nelson headed home from a corner before the break.

Barnet looked to have won the game when Ryan Watson’s free-kick found its way in through a crowded box.

But Shephard, on-loan from Swansea, won the point with a close-range finish in stoppage time.

With yet more late drama between the two sides (with a 4-3 thriller at The Hive London the previous season), the game tomorrow looks set to be an exciting affair between the two sides.

Manager:

Darren Way has been at Yeovil Town for the club’s entire period in the EFL as a player, coach and now manager.

He first arrived at Huish Park as a combative midfielder in 2000 and became a club legend by helping the Glovers achieve promotion from the National League in 2003 and League Two in 2005, as well as lifting the FA Trophy in 2002.

After leaving for Swansea City in January 2006, Way returned to Somerset on loan in 2007, before signing permanently ahead of the 2008/09 season.

However, Way’s playing career was ended on December 17th, 2008 when he was involved in a severe car accident.

The determined character defied the doctor’s prognosis of not being able to walk again by returning to Yeovil as a coach, working under Russell Slade, Terry Skiverton and Gary Johnson – achieving promotion to the Championship with the latter.

Two years after the club’s solitary season in the second tier, Way worked under Paul Sturrock as first team coach, before taking interim charge in December 2015.

He was appointed as permanent boss after six games and led Yeovil to safety during the 2015/16 season by a margin of 14 points, putting together a six-game unbeaten run in the process and turning the club’s fortunes around.

The Town legend signed a new three-year contract in the summer of 2016 to keep him at Huish Park, before guiding the Glovers to a 20th place finish during the 2016/17 campaign, accruing the club’s highest points tally in the last four campaigns.

Dangerman:

Olufela Olomola is getting his first taste of professional league football after he joined Yeovil Town for his first loan spell away from St Mary’s on a six months deal in July.

He has made his debut for Southampton however, coming on as an early substitute for Jay Rodriguez in the EFL Cup game against Sunderland in October 2016.

The forward, who’s eligible for both England and Nigeria, has impressed so far during his time at Huish Park, scoring six goals in 12 league appearances. His first came at home to Accrington Stanley and followed up with another, with his brace helping the Glovers to a 3-2 at home.

Playing as a striker or on the right-wing so far for the club this season, the 20-year-old is an exciting prospect and will be hoping to continue making a name for himself and, if he goes back to Southampton in January, will be aiming to progress his career further.

Connections:

Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro went on loan to Yeovil Town from Barnet for the second half of the 2016/17 season. During this spell, he made 13 league appearances for the Glovers, scoring two goals and providing two assists. Since returning back to the club, he’s been a prominent feature in the side, with 15 appearances across all competitions, scoring three goals.

Last Time Out:

Yeovil lost 2-1 away at Cambridge United, making it three defeats in four for Darren Way’s side on Tuesday night.

Uche Ikpeazu opened the scoring for The U’s after 20 minutes, with George Maris doubling their advantage just seven minutes later.

Bevis Mugabi pulled one back for the Glovers on the hour mark, and Otis Khan thought he’d scored the equaliser in the last minute, but his shot was expertly cleared under the bar by Jabo Ibehre.

Yeovil dropped down to 18th, only two points above Barnet and six above the relegation zone. Cambridge are up to 13th.

Ticket info:

Supporters can find out more about tickets details here.

Keep up with the game:

Full match commentary from every game is available on iFollow. If you are based outside of the UK & Ireland, you can, for the first time ever, watch the game live on iFollow.

You can also get live match updates on Twitter throughout the afternoon. We are also on Facebook and will go behind the scenes on our Instagram.